Beedie School of Business News

The IBECC team. From left to right: Winnie So, Laura Anderson, Erin Lane, Sophie Collins, and Negar Hadavi.

A team of MBA students from the Beedie School of business has dominated the field at the prestigious Intercollegiate Business Ethics Case Competition (IBECC), taking first place in the 10-minute presentation and winning silver in the 30-minute presentation.

The team, consisting of SFU MBA students Sophie Collins, Negar Hadavi, Laura Anderson and Erin Lane, and Management of Technology MBA student Winnie So, emerged victorious from a strong field of 25 competing teams from across the globe, including such distinguished institutions as the University of Oxford, INSEAD, Dartmouth and Copenhagen Business School.

The IBECC, held this year at Loyola Marymount University in San Diego, California from May 8 to 10, is the oldest and most-recognized business ethics competition of its kind. In addition to the competition, it allows students to learn about organizational ethics through conference sessions and networking with the world’s leading ethics and compliance officers. Keep reading…

Tags: Barrick Gold, business ethics, Case competition, Copenhagen Business School, Dartmouth, Erin Lane, experiential learning, IBECC, INSEAD, Intercollegiate Business Ethics Case Competition, Kathleen Burke, Laura Anderson, Management of Technology MBA, MBA, MOT MBA, Negar Hadavi, Sophie Collins, Stephanie Bertels, University of Oxford, Winnie So

The following article was published by Enactus Canada on May 6.

Simon Fraser University recognized nationally for advancing the lives of new Canadians.

Student team earns 2013 national title for efforts to empower newcomers in Burnaby.

Simon Fraser University has been awarded the 2013 RBC Newcomer Advancement Project Fund Best Project by national charitable organization Enactus Canada and proud supporter RBC Foundation. The awards presentation took place at the 2013 Enactus Canada National Exposition on Monday, May 6th in Toronto.

The RBC Newcomer Advancement Project Fund was designed to accelerate the advancement of newcomers to Canada, creating social and economic opportunities that will strengthen the well-being of communities. The Enactus team from Simon Fraser University was awarded Best Project because they were able to impact the lives of 23 new Canadians through their project, Media Minds.

Media Minds is a digital literacy program which aims to gear ESL students with video editing skills to create a mini self-documentary of their life. The goals of this program are to enhance students’ storytelling abilities and increase their employability through teaching video skills. Keep reading…

Tags: 2013 Enactus Canada National Exposition, Enactus Canada, Enactus SFU, literacy, Media Minds, RBC Foundation, RBC Newcomer Advancement Project Fund Best Project, Simon Fraser University, social innovation

Beedie School of Business alumna Salina Siu has been shortlisted for Tourism Australia’s The Best Jobs in the World competition.

Beedie School of Business alumna Salina Siu has been given an opportunity all graduates seek – the chance to land her dream job.

Siu is one of 150 people selected from over 600,000 applicants to advance to the second round of Tourism Australia’s The Best Jobs in the World competition. With six positions available, Siu is the only Canadian to make the 25-person shortlist for the Chief Funster position.

The Chief Funster position is based in Sydney and requires the winner to attend and review all the festivals and events the city has to offer over the course of the six-month assignment. The position comes with a $50,000 (AUS) salary, along with an additional $50,000 (AUS) to cover expenses.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and would be a crazy adventure,” says Siu, who previously served as social media intern in the Beedie School’s marketing department as well as stints with Invoke Media and SAP. “I am so passionate about social media, and to work in this field in such a great environment would be an amazing experience.” Keep reading…

Tags: AIESEC SFU, Alumni, Andrew Petter, BBA, Beedie School of Business, best job in the world, Chief Funster, communications, entrepreneurship, Invoke Media, Marketing, Salina Siu, SAP, sfu, social media, Tourism Australia, YouTube

Brian Hill, CEO of Aritzia, being interviewed in front of a live audience at the Beedie School of Business by CKNW host Bill Good.

The spring series of CKNW 980’s “The Chief Executives” concluded with Brian Hill, CEO and co-founder of fashion retailer Aritzia, discussing his hands-on approach to the fashion retail industry with CKNW host Bill Good in front of a live audience at the Segal Graduate School.

The event was part of an ongoing partnership between the Beedie School of Business and prominent Vancouver radio station CKNW News Talk 980 to bring leadership and business insights from some of Canada’s top executives to SFU’s downtown Vancouver campus.

As a third generation fashion retailer, Hill grew up working in the family business, which Good assumed negated the need for him to ask what his first job was. Hill revealed however, that one summer he worked in a role that to this day remains his favourite job – a garbage man. Keep reading…

Tags: Aritzia, Beedie School of Business, Bill Good, Brian Hill, CKNW, CKNW News Talk 980, fashion industry, Leadership, management, MBA, retail, Segal Graduate School, strategy, The Chief Executives

The following article was published by the Globe and Mail on April 30.

Elicia Maine, Academic Director of SFU MOT MBA program

Business education has an important role to play in boosting Canada’s edge in the digital age by combining masters of business administration (MBA) programs with technology management skills, industry experts say.

Released in April, the World Economic Forum’s Networked Readiness Index ranked Canada 12th out of 144 countries, down three spots from the previous year. The point of the index is to illustrate which countries’ economies are well poised to benefit from technology-based industry. Those that ranked higher – such as Finland, the United States and Singapore – were credited with having friendly business environments and top education systems.

Canada has a skilled work force, a high-level education system and a growing economy, like the other high-ranking countries. But business specialists say the country needs to expand its reach in the global technology market, create more business leaders with specific technology management skills and strengthen the bonds between business education and industry in order to move up the ranks.

The study highlights a growing business area in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, says Elicia Maine, academic director at Simon Fraser University’s Management of Technology MBA program, though she views the rankings with some skepticism, because it compares countries with what she calls incomparable economies and education systems.

Her graduates are already tapping the ICT market, she says. “About 50 per cent of our cohort is either in software, ICT, social media or gaming sectors, all things that could broadly be in ICT. And they find great value in the customized MBA program, that can really go in-depth on the strategic issues around commercializing new technologies,” she adds.

Keep reading…

Tags: Beedie School of Business, Information and communication technology, Management Technology, Masters, MBA, MOT MBA, SFU Beedie, Simon Fraser University

Spring 2013 I-3 competition winners. From left to right: Courtney Wiebe, Eric Kung, class instructor Bernie Maroney, Ryan Torio and Selena Bell

Undergraduate students at SFU’s Beedie School of Business displayed their entrepreneurial talents as they presented new venture concepts of their own design to a panel of guest judges at the I-3 competition.

The I-3 competition, formerly known as the Ken Spencer Competition, is held in conjunction with the Business 477: New Venture Planning class. The competition required the teams to create a product or service concept and business plan to commercialize their product.

Through SFU entrepreneurial support program Venture Connection, the teams were assigned mentors from the local business community to guide their business innovation ideas. Keep reading…

Tags: angel investor, Beedie Endowment Fund, Bernie Maroney, entrepreneurship, i-3 competition, innovaiton, Ken Spencer competition, New Product Development, New venture Planning, venture, Venture Connection

Gregg Saretsky, CEO of WestJet, being interviewed in front of a live audience at the Beedie School of Business by CKNW host Bill Good.

The spring series of CKNW 980’s “The Chief Executives” continued with Gregg Saretsky, President and CEO of Canadian airline WestJet, sharing his vision for employee engagement with CKNW host Bill Good in front of a live audience at the Segal Graduate School.

The event was part of an ongoing partnership between the Beedie School of Business and prominent Vancouver radio station CKNW News Talk 980 to bring leadership and business insights from some of Canada’s top executives to SFU’s downtown Vancouver campus.

With a packed and enthusiastic crowd watching, Saretsky opened by sharing his career path with Good, explaining how his father worked in the airline industry and that he had grown up taking advantage of his father’s airline privileges by travelling to a variety of places from a young age. Keep reading…

Tags: airline industry, Beedie School of Business, Bill Good, Canadian economy, CKNW, CKNW News Talk 980, employee engagement, employee ownership, Gregg Saretsky, Harvard, Leadership, management, MBA, return on investment, Segal Graduate School, strategy, The Chief Executives, WestJet, WestJet Encore

“The quality of the speakers/lecturers exceeded my expectations. I felt privileged to learn from what I feel are the best.” Software Development Manager (previous program participant)

“Online works great, plenty of time and thoughtful and thought provoking discussions.  In class was great as well. Pace is fast, jam packed but manageable.” Director, Information Services (previous program participant)

This popular program, offered in partnership with the CIO Association of Canada, is geared towards aspiring and current CIOs – focusing on developing the strategic business and leadership skills that will take their careers to the next level. While the program is designed for the direct reports of CIO members, interested individuals already in a CIO-role are also welcome to apply. Over the course of the program, participants broaden their technological and strategic perspective through interactive and engaging sessions as well as networking with peers, MIS thought leaders and senior CIOCAN members.

Please click here to find out more.

Tags: Business and Leadership, CIO, CIO Association of Canada, CIOCAN, Executive Education, Leadership Development, program

Tracy Redies, CEO of Coast Capital Savings, being interviewed at the Beedie School of Business by CKNW host Bill Good.

The spring series of CKNW 980’s “The Chief Executives” continued with Tracy Redies, President and CEO of credit union Coast Capital Savings, discussing her journey from selling shoes to leading of one of the country’s largest credit unions with CKNW host Bill Good in front of a live audience at the Segal Graduate School.

The event was part of an ongoing partnership between the Beedie School of Business and prominent Vancouver radio station CKNW News Talk 980 to bring leadership and business insights from some of Canada’s top executives to SFU’s downtown Vancouver campus.

Redies reminisced in the opening stages of the interview about the beginning of her career. She explained how she graduated at the peak of a recession, and with few jobs available, started working in a shoe store, a position she obtained due to her being able to speak Japanese. Keep reading…

Tags: banking, Barack Obama, BC economy, Beedie School of Business, Bill Good, Canadian economy, CKNW, CKNW News Talk 980, Coast Capital Savings, Coast Capital Savings Venture Prize Competition, credit union, debt management, financial crisis, hospitality, HSBC Canada, Leadership, management, Segal Graduate School, The Chief Executives, Tracy Redies

Saltworks Technologies co-founders Joshua Zoshi, left, and Ben Sparrow are making waste water usable.

By Remy Scalza.

That the planet’s supply of freshwater is dwindling is little surprise.  Just where it’s going, however, is eye opening.  It takes roughly 1,500 liters of water to make a pair of jeans, as much as 5,700 liters to grow and process the ingredients needed for a fast-food combo meal and about 120,000 liters to make a car – enough water to fill half an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

“If you consider the volume of wastewater generated by industrial and agricultural activity, it’s absolutely massive,” says Joshua Zoshi, president of Vancouver-based Saltworks. “We’re trying to do something about that.” Zoshi, together with fellow Beedie School of Business alum Ben Sparrow, founded Saltworks in 2008 in hopes of harnessing next-gen desalination technologies to produce and conserve freshwater.

Just four years later, the pair find themselves working with some of North America’s largest oil and mining companies, not to mention NASA, on reducing mankind’s water footprint. “Every morning, you get out of bed and know you have the opportunity to change the world,” Zoshi says. “That passion is my business.”

For the moment, Saltworks is headquartered in a former fish-processing plant on Vancouver’s industrial port, tucked between the waterfront and a sea of shipping containers.  “We had to power-wash the walls to get rid of the smell,” Zoshi jokes, leading the way onto a busy workshop floor cluttered with prototypes, pumps, plastic tubing and pressure gauges. Keep reading…

Tags: Beedie School of Business, Ben Sparrow, desalination, entrepreneurship, Ideas@Beedie, innovaiton, Joshua Zoshi, Management of Technology MBA, MOT MBA, NASA, New Ventures BC, Research, Saltworks, Simon Fraser University, sustainability, waste water, water